Elisa's Progress

[elisa]

Today was tough, there just wasn't much in the tank, not sure why after 2 days off??

Squats 127# 5x5 (up another pound, but barely got these)
Bench - I just couldn't do it, dropped down to 65# 5x5 again. I am not sure why I can't seem to build any strength in the upper body.
Chins 3x5 assisted
TGU did about 10 on each side and called it a day. Nothing extra.
I feel really tired. It would be interesting to note on a monthly cycle why I have so much energy at times and other times the shortest workout wears me out. I see it with guys too so I wonder if it is hormonal or just the normal stress of life. Right now just listening to my body and when I have the energy I push myself more and when I dont' I just take it easier.

[MysCat]

127 on the squats is awesome! Maybe your body just needed a little extra oomph to get going after resting for 2 days. Sometimes that happens with me. If you really had to work hard on the squats, maybe you were just really tired by the time you got to the bench. Extra rest between sets? Deloading and then making another run for it is good, too. It just takes women longer to build upper body strength, but you will get there. I get frustrated with my upper body stuff, too. How are you eating? ARe you getting in enough calories? Is your husband able to help spot you? Have you tried 1 rep max? It's not part of the SL program, but sometimes I like to do that (with a spotter) just to see how much I can lift for 1 rep. It can boost morale and confidence to see that you can, in fact, lift a weight that's heavier than you thought - even if it's for one rep. Did you see the video that Mehdi posted in the video and links section? It's on women benching 135 lbs. - really inspirational. Keep pressing on elisa, you will get there.

[Young Athlete]

You got it fight through 130lbs it's not that bad and you can do it I'm sure of it

[mackanno]

Don't give much thought to the Bench press, I also have trouble with them, but improvements do come
I guess it's call biorythm, is like a fluctuation of our overall body, sometimes is up and energetic, others goes down a bit, but it goes back up again.

[dasparky]

"sometimes there's just not enough in the tank"...

I go through that as well. Just keep plugging, it all evens out.

[Doo]

Keep up the effort Elisa. For me its squats and, even more so, seated press (no overhead with low ceiling) that I struggle with. I keep deloading on those and eventually coming back better. You'll make it.

[mackanno]

That's right, de-load if needed, you will get back up again, in a way is like saying to your body: "see? this lower wehight is soo easy you can lift waaay more, so c'mon, don't tell me you can't"

[Young Athlete]

Don't deload yet you got this



GET PUMPED!

[elisa]

Thanks for all of the positive feedback everybody. I'm not deloading on the bench yet, will see how I do tomorrow.
I also must have missed a post somewhere because my last workout was
Squats 129# 5x5
OHP 64# 5x5
DL - all over on this one, did 95# as part of my warmup. Then on the 135 did 2 reps but my husband wasn't thrilled with my form, felt right to me but he said I was bending my left arm and not keeping it straight. Then couldn't do another rep so dropped the weight down to 115 and did a few reps.

I am still sore from the DL, strange, I haven't been getting that sore lately, so if I workout tomorrow it will be at 130# for my squats. When I started that was about my weight and my goal was to reach bodyweight, do did i reach my goal? Or do I need to reach current bodyweight??

[Young Athlete]

Current body weight your close though

[MysCat]

Nice job on those squats. If you get your 130 for 5x5 then I would say you reached your original goal. Then you just set a new goal and go from there. Envious of your OHP which continues to give me so much trouble. Good progress!!

[mackanno]

I'd say you reach your BW when you lift the original BW you had when you set that goal. If you have wained some weight (wich I bet is muscle) that should not count, until you decide to reach your current BW (I hope I explained myself ).
Great to have someone watching you while working out.

[elisa]

Saturday,
Had some problems this week with muscles aching. Sometimes if I accidently eat gluten this can happen. My body aches all over. I took some time off and went to an herbal doctor who gave me some tinctures. Will see if those help with anything.
I did eat some tamales which have corn in them and sometimes I think corn doesn't do me well and then other times no problem. That is why I avoid most grains.

Squats 130# 5x5 - I can hardly believe I'm saying I did that much weight. Hard!
Bench - 753 5x5
Chins (jumping) 5,5,5,3
Then did some DB rows and other upper body work and step ups etc.

[Young Athlete]

Yes, Very nice work

[elisa]

I agree w/ you mackanno and MysCat, I am going to count that as reaching my goal. Otherwise I just can't seem to catch it and that seems frustrating.
First goal squat 100# 5x5, 2nd goal squat BW 5x5 (130#) I was looking at my notebook and it as that last 15 pounds that took a long time.
My new goal will be to lose some body fat, but not sure how to go about it.

I wore shorts for the first time today and I have some serious muscles in my legs (well for me but still have that layer of fat on them. I was also showing my husband something with shoulders, how to keep them locked or something, and he said, Dang, look at your arm and shoulder muscles! It made me want to go stand in front of the mirror and do some flexing
But still a bit of fat on the triceps...... I know, all is vanity but dang, I want to look good too.

i realize my strength might stall but I am ok with that. I hope to drop a bit of BF and then get back at some more strength goals.
Thinking of High Density. Doing an 8x8 with lower weight and dropping the rest periods each time. I need to check into it further to have an actual plan. Any other ideas?

I know the 5x5 is good but I need a mental break and some physical rewards.